For the last two years, the Juanita softball team has been handed the district trophy, earning the No. 1 seed to state. It happened again last Thursday evening, after the Rebels beat Holy Names 3-1 in the championship match.
The title earned the Rebels the top seed from District 2 to the 3A state tournament, which begins Friday, May 27.
During the game against the Cougars, Juanita faced stiff pitching against Sylvie Thomas, but the Rebels scored first in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.
Rebels pitcher Allison Rhodes struck out five Holy Names batters before a walked batter rounded the bases to tie the game.
But Rebels head coach Kristian Dahl knew soon into the sixth inning that everything was going to be totally fine.
“Right at the point in the sixth inning when we got runners on second and third I knew – alright, we’re going to be ok. When we got those base hits and scored those runs I knew Allison would be able to get it for us,” said the coach.
He was right. Two additional runs for the Rebels to make it a 3-1 game and Rhodes handled the rest. In the bottom of the sixth she struck out two and the third batter was caught out at first, and in the bottom of the seventh, she knocked out all three at the plate.
It wasn’t the only game of the day where Rhodes contributed in a big way. The semifinals match, which ended just 30 minutes before the title game, against Bainbridge was a pitching duel. She struck out 17 in the game against the Spartans, helping Juanita to a 3-0 game.
“Game one Allison was really on fire and was getting her spots and the second game, she wasn’t getting a lot of calls so she had to make adjustments and we didn’t make the best adjustments at the plate until the end. Their pitcher (for Holy Names) played a phenomenal game as well. We were able to get in there at the end and do what was needed,” said Dahl of the two game outing.
The team had advanced to the semifinals after beating Chief Sealth in the second round of the tournament 15-0.
But now the district tournament is a thing of the past, and the team looks ahead to the next challenge – state. Last spring the team ended with a co-third place title, thanks to wet weather canceling the end of the tournament. The year before the Rebels didn’t place.
To prepare over the next week, Dahl said they will focus on the little things.
“We just need to go back to the basics and know we need to make some adjustments,” he said. “The teams come out different, they throw harder or softer and we need to make our adjustments a little sooner.”
In the first round of the state tournament Juanita faces Everett at 10 a.m. at the RAC fields in Lacey. Everett, a team which entered the state tournament as the No. 2 team out of the district 1 tournament. The Seagulls finished the regular season as the No. 1 team in the Wesco conference with an 13-1 record, and 20-1 overall.
The winner of Friday morning’s game will play the winner of the Mount Si versus Wilson game at 4 p.m. on Friday. If Juanita loses their first game, they will play at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Watch this site for updates as the tournament progresses.
